


Hold My Hand, and We'll Be Fine

by IndigoFudge



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Angst, Eddie Kaspbrak Lives, Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, Hurt/Comfort, Impaled, Love Confession, M/M, Near Death, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Whump
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:28:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23876194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IndigoFudge/pseuds/IndigoFudge
Summary: Richie Tozier stays with Eddie Kaspbrak after Eddie gets impaled.Eddie dies, despite Richie's best efforts to keep him alive.The Losers still carry him out of Neibolt...And they discover that Eddie is not, in fact, dead.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 8
Kudos: 98





	Hold My Hand, and We'll Be Fine

There's a mostly unspoken agreement that Richie will stay with Eddie while the other four Losers go to kill Pennywise. No one else even tries to convince him otherwise.

"Rich, we're going to go, alright?" Ben says. "You... do what you need to do."

"Yeah. I'm staying here." Richie sits down against the rock wall, Eddie leaning lightly against him, and watches as they walk away.

Eddie takes a hitching breath. “Y'don’t have to stay here. Y’should probably go and help them.”

“There’s no fucking way I’m doing that, Eds. I need to be here to remind you to stay alive. Don’t want you dying on me.” Richie tries to smile, but can’t. Gently, he holds Eddie’s hand, interlacing their fingers.

Eddie looks down. Instead of pulling his hand away, he tightens his grip on Richie's. “...Thanks.”

Richie stifles a sob. “Don't thank me."

"It's just..." Eddie trails off, and he's _crying_. "I'm scared. I don't want to die." His voice turns up at the end, and he squeezes Richie's hand. 

It's all Richie can do to not break down into tears. As much as he wants to believe otherwise, he knows Eddie is doomed. He can see it in the pain in Eddie's eyes, the dark blood staining his lips, the ragged sounds of his breathing. And Richie realizes that if he could take Eddie's pain away, he'd do it in a heartbeat. “It won't be so bad," he says. A memory comes to him. "It’ll be... just like falling asleep, because of the blood loss.”

“How do you know?”

Richie swallows. His heart is pounding all of a sudden. “I, uh, read a lot of medical stuff in college. It reminded me of this boy I... loved when I was a kid." He fixates his gaze on his crumpled leather jacket pressed to Eddie's chest. "I could never remember his name until Jade of the Orient.”

The cavern certainly isn't silent - far from it - but the air between them seems too quiet.

A few moments pass before Eddie says “You loved me too?”

“ _Too_?!?” Richie gasps, mouth dry. His gaze snaps back to Eddie's face.

Pure love is evident in Eddie's expression. “Yeah, I’ve loved you for th' longest time."

Richie's mouth hangs open. "What?" That's the only word he can manage to say, so he says it again. "What?" He blinks back tears.

“Rich...” Eddie whispers, clearing his throat of blood.

“Yeah?” A tear slips down Richie’s face. He buries his face in the crook of Eddie’s neck.

Eddie reaches up and brings his hand to the back of Richie’s head, running his fingers through his hair in a comforting gesture. “Remember th' hammock? How I would climb in even when you were still in it?” The trace of a smile appears on his lips at the memory. 

“Uh-huh.” Richie sniffles.

“It wasn’t because I wanted my turn,” Eddie says. “It was because I wanted t' be close to you. I always loved... your smile. It made me smile, too.” He sighs contentedly.

Richie squeezes his eyes shut, trying not to think about how the love of his life is dying right in front of him. “Eds...”

"Don't call me that, dipshit," Eddie breathes. “Richie, I- I loved you back then. And I still do now.”

Richie sits up and touches his forehead to Eddie’s, blocking everything else out. “Me too. I love you so fucking much, and I always will. No matter what- what happens here, I'll always love you, Spaghetti. _I promise._ " His voice breaks on that last word.

Slowly, their lips meet, and it gives Eddie one last moment of happiness. He's not scared anymore. But as they kiss, all of the sounds in the cavern start to go away. A fuzziness envelops his mind. Deep inside, Eddie knows what's happening. He holds on just long enough for Richie to pull away, and then he's gone. 

*

“Eds?” Richie’s face pales. “You better be fucking with me and not-.... Open your eyes.” He brings Eddie into his arms, hugging him and willing Eddie to magically be filled with life again. No such thing happens. _Oh fuck. I knew this was coming, I_ knew _, but nothing could have prepared me for seeing the emptiness of his eyes. Oh, God._ Richie's heart aches with the worst pain he's ever felt in his life. It feels as if he's being torn in two.

The cavern starts to shake as the other Losers run back. Bill sees Eddie, and lets out a breath. “R-Richie... is he...”

 _Dead. He's dead._ “He’s... fine, he’s just hurt. He was just awake and talking to me. He’s not... We need to get him out of here and to the hospital.” Richie stands up, pulling Eddie into a bridal carry. 

“Richie, we have to go,” says Ben, but he looks on the fence about it.

Richie wipes his tears away, knowing what he needs to say. “Guys..." _What did Pennywise say? '_ _I know your secret, your dirty little secret?' If I tell them, what will they do? But... It's for Eddie. God. I have to do it, for Eddie, for the love of my fucking life._ "...I love him." Richie's squeezing his eyes shut, but he knows that the Losers must all be looking at him with burning hatred. He tries again: "Come on, please. I _love_ him. Ben, if it were Bev-“

Ben bows his head in understanding. “I’ll carry him.”

"Thank you," Richie says. 

Trying to get Eddie out of Neibolt ends up being harder than Richie had thought. The ground is shaking, and rocks and other debris fly through the air. Richie keeps glancing at Eddie's pale face, eyebrows furrowed in a frown. 

_Please, Eds. Please don't be gone. I don't think I can handle you being gone._

When they get to the base of the well, Ben climbs up first, waiting at the top. Bev ties the rope around Eddie in a makeshift harness, looping it around his waist and under his arms. Then Ben pulls Eddie up, unties the rope harness, and tosses it down. One by one, the rest of the Losers climb up as well, Bill bringing up the rear. Ben picks Eddie back up and they all run.

_-Bill's bike is fast enough to beat the devil and now we all need to be fast enough to beat the devil-_

The Losers help each other out the front door of the Neibolt house and tumble onto the grass, coughing and gasping in breaths of fresh air. Ben gently sets Eddie down, giving him to Richie. "Here, man," he says, softly. 

Richie can't tear his eyes away from Eddie's pained expression. "Thanks." He's choked up, touching the bandage on Eddie's cheek with his thumb. _Wake up, Eds. Please wake up. We can have a life together. If there's anyone out there, any god, or anyone like that, please bring my Eddie back to me. Please._

But Eddie stays still.

Sobbing, Richie buries his face in the leather jacket that's still clutched in Eddie's hands. It smells like blood and the sewers, but Richie doesn't care. He imagines that they're both back in the clubhouse, and everything is okay, and of course neither of them are dead because the Losers Club wasn't supposed to ever be any less than seven.

The Lucky Seven. They'd been the Lucky Seven. It was perfect and there were seven of them and it fit.

So why

_why_

have two of the seven been ripped away from the rest, thrown into an endless empty void, their consciousness extinguished? It wasn't fucking fair. It wasn't fair. Things change but they shouldn't have changed and this time, of all times, should not have ended this way.

The jacket shifts underneath Richie's head, interrupting his spiral of thoughts. Richie bolts back up into a sitting position.

"Eddie?" he says, his voice thin and shaking.

Eddie furrows his brows.

Richie's eyes grow wide. _He's a_ _live he's alive he's-_

"Eds," he says, breathlessly. "Eddie, Eds, hey, I'm here."

 _-he's fucking_ alive-

"Richie..." Eddie mumbles, then gives a weak cough. He presses his head into Richie's arm, taking air in with quick gasps. 

_-and oh God, now we might finally get to have the life we never got to have._

"Yeah, buddy, it's me." Richie's whispering, trying his best to stay calm and comforting, and maybe he's also being a little bit selfish by being so quiet that the other Losers don't hear him - maybe he'll get a few minutes alone with Eddie before everyone else notices. He smiles tearfully, thumbing the bandage on Eddie's cheek. "You're safe now, okay? It's gone."

Eddie curls his fingers around the hem of Richie's shirt.

"Richie... are we outside?" Eddie's eyes are open now, just a crack.

Richie nods. "Yeah, we took you outside and look, Mike's calling the ambulance and you're gonna be _okay_ and I'm here." He starts stroking Eddie's hair to comfort him, and it seems to be working; Eddie lets out a breath and his face softens. 

The other Losers are gathering around now, gasping and crying and resting their hands on Eddie. "Oh my God," Bev says. "Eddie, we thought- we thought you were dead."

Eddie swallows. "So did I. It felt... nice, though. Doesn't hurt anymore. 'S fine."

"I won't let anything else happen to you, okay?"

Eddie leans into Richie's touch, smiling slightly. "I love you," he whispers.

Richie throws a quick glance at Ben, who's smiling, and then he looks back at Eddie. "I love you too, so much."

And when they hear sirens in the distance, Richie finally feels like everything will be alright.

**Author's Note:**

> I can add more if anyone wants me to!


End file.
